Turkey's Lawyer Offers Free Protection for Special Court Indictees

Gani Tocoglu, a lawyer from Turkey who comes from a family displaced in Turkey in 1945 from Macedonia's Debar, said he would do everything he can, on voluntary grounds and without any compensation, to cast no shadow, unbashed and unconventioned on the KLA's struggle to be freed from the Serbian occupant.

I think all these accusations against the KLA are groundless, because fighters who want to invade another country can be blamed, but if in your case you defend your country, legally it cannot be called a crime. In view of this, the KLA and Kosovo effort, which has been done courageously, should be assessed first of all, as self-defense”, Tocoglu said.

KLA Association of Families Chairman Xhavit Jashari, even though Kosovo institutions have allocated a budget for protecting the accused before the Special Court, the Association is ready for co-operation.

Jashar stressed that in Kosovo many people have lost their lives during the war, but that crimes against the innocent population have committed Serbian military and police, and that Serbia has committed unprecedented crimes and massacres in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo by state order.

He considers that the resulting judgments of KLA members by UNMIK and EULEX, as well as before The Hague tribunal, are politically motivated processes.

“We have been trying to prevent the establishment of the Special Court, as with the establishment of this court, the highest judicial institution in Kosovo and the Kosovo Constitution is violated, under which Kosovo is multiethnic. Is the unilateral establishment of a selective court only against the Kosovo Liberation Army war? People in conversation are already invited and we expect cooperation. Despite living in Turkey, what we enjoy is how a man of our lands wants to help us not be tarnished by the KLA war, which was clean”, Yasar said.

Kosovo's Special Court and Special Prosecutorship are part of Kosovo's judicial system. Chambers have been established at every level of Kosovo's judicial system. They were formed on the basis of the constitutional amendment and the Law adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo to hold judgments concerning charges by the 2011 Council of Europe Report, which includes serious violations of international law.

They are of temporary nature with a specific mandate and jurisdiction, regarding specific crimes against humanity, war crimes and other criminal acts under Kosovo legislation reportedly committed between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000. Specialised rooms have headquarters at The Hague in the Netherlands, with international judges, prosecutors and their staff.